Senator John A. DeFrancisco (R-I-C, Syracuse), today announced that a 45-day public comment period for truck traffic regulations proposed by New York State begins today.

"The regulations are designed to create a balance between quality of life for residents of the Finger Lakes region who are affected by the traffic, and legitimate business of truck drivers and businesses who provide services to the area,” said Senator DeFrancisco.

“I applaud Governor Paterson and the Department of Transportation for taking the truck traffic concerns seriously, and for joining me to help address this issue," continued Senator DeFrancisco.

With these regulations, businesses are protected with a provision that local pick-ups and deliveries will not be impacted.Also, “a 25 mile rule,” will permit large trucks to travel on the seven excluded highways, if restricting their travel to state qualifying highways or other state highways will add more than 25 miles to the truck’s one-way trip.

“I encourage all concerned residents, businesses and organizations to provide input to the NYS Department of Transportation on these important regulations during this comment period,” concluded Senator DeFrancisco.

The draft regulations can be viewed at the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Web site at https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/programs/truckpolicy.